


A Thousand Words

by bloody_american (pajaro)



Series: my three wishes [1]
Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003)
Genre: M/M, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-04
Updated: 2010-05-04
Packaged: 2017-10-09 07:41:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/84659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pajaro/pseuds/bloody_american
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dualla watches.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Thousand Words

**Author's Note:**

> Post Six Degrees of Seperation, pre Kobol's Last Gleaming; Beta'd by the one and only [Kate](http://www.livejournal.com/users/counterfeitcoin/), whom without I'd be so utterly lost and whom is now in possession of yet another jar to add to her proverbial bookshelf.

She doesn't remember when she first noticed him staring. Or, more correctly, watching. Staring is that thing kids do to drive each other nuts. This was nothing overtly obvious, but for as long as they've known each other she can't remember the last time she noticed him looking at another person that way. With such an intense look, like he needed to look just as much as he needed food or water. Or air.

But she knows that look, Dualla's done it herself once or twice back on Sagittaron. So when she sees Gaeta sitting alone in a corner of the room while the others are sharing a card game, Dualla can guess exactly what's going on.

"Hey, what's up?" she queries loud enough to be heard over the other voices in the room and startle Gaeta out of his reverie. Dualla takes the seat in front of him and grins.

Gaeta clears his throat, "oh, not much. You?" His eyes dart out across the room one last time before they settle on the woman before him. His smile is forced and doesn't quite reach his eyes.

"Just got off shift, thought I'd see what everyone was up to. How come you're not playing cards?"

"I didn't feel much like playing." Gaeta laughs wryly. "Kara won most of the cubits I had left the last time we played." He stares into his drink, thoughts clearly somewhere else.

"Well, for what it's worth it looks like her winning streak is over," Dualla says, glancing over at the crowded and noisy table. "Dr. Baltar," her eyes quickly move back to Gaeta, who looks up at the mere mention of the doctor's name, "seems to be cleaning her and everyone else out." Dualla holds back a laugh. He watches Dr. Baltar for a moment, then sees the smirk on Dualla's face.

"What?"

"You are so cute," Dualla replies, smile still firmly planted on her face.

The look on his face tells her Gaeta is clearly confused. "Excuse me?"

She can't hold it back this time and just laughs at his expression, starting again, "You, my friend, are cute. I mean, you're clearly infatuated with him."

Gaeta's brow furrows. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"With Dr. Baltar," she says as if those three words should explain everything. If they do then he's pretty good at hiding it and Dualla's beginning to think Gaeta's not as bright as she thought he was when he looks over again.

The sound of several groans interrupts their conversation for a moment and Dualla watches as Gaeta searches for Dr. Baltar again in the small crowd. Dualla was right, he is beating the pants off of them. Both figuratively and literally. The corner of Gaeta's lip twitches as they watch Dr. Baltar stand and take a bow, the others clearly irritated at the display. She isn't sure but she thinks Gaeta actually holds his breath when the doctor looks over and bows in their direction, winking at Gaeta before settling in for the next game.

The exchange between the two men somehow goes unnoticed to the rest of the room and Dualla's astonishment is clearly written on her face. "Are you blind, Gaeta?" She really doesn't know whether to be amused or exasperated at Gaeta's reaction.

Gaeta jerks his head away from the commotion that drew his attention at the sound of Dualla's voice. "I'm sorry," he apologizes, "what were you saying again?"

"I was saying," Dualla starts firmly, tone shifting into obvious amusement, "that you clearly have a thing for Dr. Baltar and you just proved my point." Her grin is even wider now, though it would seem quite impossible.

Gaeta's eyes widen and he has the same look on his face often seen on children who've been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. His jaw drops and he snaps it shut, trying to find something to say but ending up looking like a fish out of water. Finally his voice comes back to him, "That's just ridiculous, what would make you think I have a _thing_ for Gaius?"

"Gaius, is it? I wasn't aware that you two were on a first name basis." It's all she can do to not laugh in his face, so she crosses her arms on the table in front of them and waits. She knows that if she does laugh he probably wouldn't talk to her about it once he decides to stop denying it.

Dualla can tell when Gaeta realizes he shouldn't have said that, that she's never going to leave him alone about this now, but he tries to deter her anyway. "We did work together on the cylon detector, you know. We spent all that time together, why wouldn't I call him by his first name?"

"Yes, you did spend all that time togther," she agrees. "And I'm sure you spent all that time working on the cylon detector," Dualla insinuates with a wink.

She knows he understands exactly what she means when a fierce blush colors his cheeks and she laughs at the thought of Gaeta thinking about exactly what _that_ would entail. He keeps his gaze on the table between them while struggling to speak, stammering out his reply, "I wouldn't, w-we wouldn't, well, I know _I_ wouldn't, but I can't tell you what Gaius- what Dr. Baltar would do because, because I've never-"

"Gaeta," she tries to get him to stop rambling, but she knows he can't really hear her over the chatter in the room. Sounds like Crashdown won a cigar and a pair of boots this time.

"And I would never. Certainly not while I was on duty because I-"

"Gaeta!" She interrupts because she didn't have the heart to let him go on squirming like a worm on a hook. "I know you wouldn't do anything while you were on duty, I was joking."

He lets out a nervous laugh and seeing her soft smile, groans and places his head in his hands.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad. _Gaius_," she says with emphasis, "is a pretty good catch."

Gaeta lifts his head and doesn't look as dejected as she had thought he would, just a bit embarrassed. "Was it really that obvious?"

"Just a little."

He sighs. "What should I do now?"

"I was waiting for you to come to your senses and ask me." Dualla's smile is ear to ear now. "I think you should go over there and join that game," she pulls a few cubits out of her pocket and places them on the table in front of him. She counters him when he opens his mouth, no doubt to try and change her mind. "You don't have anything else to do, and you're off duty, so don't give me any excuses. Just go over there and you know, see how it goes."

Gaeta closes his mouth and looks over at Dr. Baltar. His face softens and Dualla can see just how much he wants it, how much he wants Gaius. It doesn't seem like that was the reaction he was expecting from her but she knows it was the right one. He stands, picks up the cubits, and looks over at Dualla to say something else but she stops him.

"Just go!" She smiles, watching as he walks over to the game table and takes a seat next to Dr. Baltar- no, Gaius. He's no longer that doctor she never had a reason to think about anymore. He's Gaius, that guy that Gaeta likes. There's definitely a difference somewhere in there.

It's only a matter of time and she sits back and waits. This time it's her turn to do the watching.


End file.
